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Big-screen music adaptations in 'Mamma Mia' are ABBA-solutely delightful

By Chris Hewittchewitt@pioneerpress.com

Posted:
07/18/2008 12:01:00 AM CDT

Donna and the Dynamos: Christine Baranski, left, Meryl Streep and Julie Walters lead the Greek chorus in the film version of the stage smash.

If you're an ABBA fan, you'll be delighted to know the group's songs in "Mamma Mia!" which opens today, sound almost exactly the same as you remember.

Many of ABBA's greatest hits appear in the musical based on the stage smash that was inspired by the Swedish band's '70s hits. And songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus have achieved verisipopitude by rehiring most of the musicians who played on the 30-year-old pop hits.

The vocals are entirely new — singers Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog are nowhere to be found in the movie (Andersson and Ulvaeus do have cameos) — but the big change is in the meanings of the songs, which have been given a dose of Zoloft. Yup, it's true. If you study the lyrics of ABBA, you realize their bright and chirpy tunes accompanied some pretty sad words.

Not so much in the movie, though. For the filmmakers, the challenge was to fit sad songs into one of the sunniest musicals ever made. A comparison (see chart, page 6E) of some of the songs used in the movie shows it finds very different meaning in them than Anni-Frid and Agnetha did.

Original: About as racy as the Swedish popsters ever got, it's sung directly and lustily to a "love machine."

Movie: The meaning is similar, but wide-eyed Amanda Seyfried, as a woman about to get married, makes it more innocent. Also, instead of the original's "You're a love machine," she's singing about her sexy beast ("He's a love machine").

"MONEY, MONEY, MONEY"

Original: The Swedes are looking for a sugar daddy or, as they refer to himin Stockholm, a lefse daddy ("In my dreams, I have a plan/If I got me a wealthy man").

Movie: The genius of Meryl Streep makes sense of nonsense. Instead of singing the song straightforwardly, she lampoons the idea of a man coming to rescue her character, an American whose Greek hotel is a money pit. What could be a dated relic becomes, instead, a witty feminist anthem.

"MAMMA MIA!"

Original: An upbeat salute to a creep ("I've been cheated by you since I don't know when").

Movie: Steep's performance leans on the exclamatory nature of the title, as in "Holy cow! I can't believe I see Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and Colin Firth after 20 years and my heart starts beating again!"

"DANCING QUEEN"

Original: One of many ABBA songs that verges on an unhealthy obsession with Lolitas, it sings of the 17-year-old dancing queen, "You're a teaser, you turn 'em on/Leave them burning and then you're gone."

Movie: It's not about teenagers anymore as Streep and her middle-aged pals, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters, lead a Greek island full of women of a certain age in a conga line.

"OUR LAST SUMMER"

Original: The female singer(s) reminisce about Harry, the man she (they?) loved for a magical summer in Paris.

Movie: The guys get this one. Firth, Brosnan and Skarsgard each remember the summer, two decades earlier, when they romanced Streep. The Paris part is a bit confusing, as is the fact that the song is now sung by one guy named Harry (Firth) instead of addressed to him.

"SUPER TROUPER"

Original: Weirdest love song ever? It's an ode to a brand of spotlight that, apparently, ABBA felt very strongly about ("Super Trouper beams are going to blind me").

Movie: Given those origins, the song fits surprisingly well in the movie. Streep and her pals, who used to be her back-up singers when she was a pop star, perform it at her daughter's bachelorette party to an audience that includes three of Streep's former flames ("I won't feel blue/Like I always do/Cuz somewhere in the crowd there's you").

"SOS"

Original: He's gone. She wants him back ("You seem so far away though you are standing near").

Movie: The film takes it literally, although it's now a duet between Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan who are, in fact, standing near each other as they sing about their lost love. Anyway, I think what Brosnan is doing could be called "singing."

"DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW"

Original: A rare ABBA track with a male lead vocal, it's addressed to jailbait who won't stop coming on to him ("You seem pretty young to be searching for that kind of fun").

Movie: Taking a cue from Streep's "Money, Money, Money," Christine Baranski camps it up as a cougar who rejects a young stud not because he's underage but because he's not man enough to satisfy her.

"TAKE A CHANCE ON ME"

Original: One of ABBA's catchiest numbers is sung by a rejected woman letting a guy know she'll wait for him ("Honey, I'm still free/Take a chance on me").

Movie: Although it's sung by the excellent Julie Walters, it's not the movie's finest hour. Her man-hungry spinster is repeatedly humiliated as she sings the song to Skarsgard, all but kidnapping him in an effort to force him to kiss her.

Movie critic Chris Hewitt can be reached at chewitt@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5552.